All of us occasionally fall into bad communication habits. Learning to communicate effectively and in a professional manner involves developing and maintaining both self-awareness and self-control. Often we don’t really see our behaviour as others might. We are so conditioned by our upbringing, our culture and our environment; our emotions and personality take over; we filter out what doesn’t back up our perspective and our perceptions become skewed.
The following article gives some great advice by pointing out five common behaviours and how to transform them, steps that will lead to more effective and influential communication skills.
Stop It! You Are Sabotaging Your Success
By Dorothy Lazovik
There are gestures and behaviors that can be undermining your brand success and holding you back. The kicker is you don’t even know it!
It can feel a bit like driving your car with the emergency brake on. You notice your car has no pickup and can’t really figure out why. Until you notice the emergency brake is engaged, you release it and without any extra effort you pick up speed.
It works much the same way when you stop repeating the ‘bad habits’ that don’t support you.
For instance, my oldest son pointed out that when I am doing my best to remain neutral on a topic we are discussing he instantly knows when I don’t agree. He said I always tilt my head to the left. My youngest son backed him up. I had no idea I was giving myself away!